


Warriors: The Next Generation Book 1 - Light of Dawn

by ForgottenJackdaw



Series: Warriors: The Next Generation [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, New Territories, Original Clans (Warriors), RiverClan (Warriors), ShadowClan (Warriors), ThunderClan (Warriors), WindClan (Warriors)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenJackdaw/pseuds/ForgottenJackdaw
Summary: Rainkit is one of the newest members of RiverClan.  Her and her littermates can't wait to become apprentices and begin their training to become real warriors, and their excitement mounts as apprenticeship approaches, bringing all the wonders of their world. But when an earth-shattering secret is uncovered, and all the clans are put in terrible danger, will the young cats survive... or will they never see the dawn again?Work in Progress!





	1. Prologue

A cat was hurrying across the dark, windswept moor. Around him, the wind howled and screamed and tugged at his at his fur, and the rain lashed against his pelt. His ears were back and his eyes squinted. He was carrying something in his mouth, two dark bundles, limp and unmoving. A third was far behind, lying lifeless under the scant shelter of a gorse bush. It would not see the light of dawn.

Lightning split the sky in a flash of blinding light. Just for a moment, it illuminated a fiery light in the cat's eyes. He kept plodding onwards, determined.

The cat reached the top of the hill and headed down the other side, his pace beginning to break. He loped forward at an unsteady rhythm, and then increased to full pelt. He became just another blur in the rain, another shadow to be whirled away into the starless night.

He disappeared behind a clump of reeds and reappeared a moment later, before stopping and shaking the water from his pelt. Another cat slunk out of the shadows to meet him. He set the limp shapes on the ground. The newcomer lifted the sodden bundles of fur and raced away into the reeds. The other cat began heading back the way he had come, disappearing into the rain.

He soon came to a clump of bracken. He reached inside and hauled out another bundle, the size of a full-grown cat. Then, paws churning, he scraped at the ground until he had made a deep hollow. He laid the lifeless body of the dead cat in it, and then covered it back up with earth. By the time he had finished, the rain had stopped. He clambered to the top of the hill, head bowed. The pale light of dawn was creeping up over the horizon. The cat sat back on his haunches, gazing up at the new day, and then turned around and padded silently away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I hope you enjoyed that mysterious entrance... Anyway, time for a bit of background. This is the first book in a series I have planned, inspired by Erin Hunter's YA series Warriors. It's also the first thing I've ever published...? So bear with me, 'cause I'm kinda new around here. I've written lots before, but never been brave enough to let people read what I've written, so I figured publishing would be a good motivator for me as I tend to, well, not finish things :) On that note, just a warning, I can no more guarantee this will get finished any more than I can guarantee me becoming the Queen of England... But, we live in hope! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought. I appreciate all feedback and criticism, as long as it isn't overly negative.
> 
> I can also be found on Wattpad (username: RainScience1991).


	2. Chapter One

Stay in the den.

Rainkit cringed as her mother's words echoed in her ears. But she had come too far to turn back now.

Her mother, Ripplesong, had told her to stay in the Nursery while she went to make dirt. But boredom had won over Rainkit, and she had eagerly seized the chance to discover the world outside.

She was nearly two moons old. She had a grey-and-black tabby pelt, flecked with more black. Her eyes were blue. Her brother, Lightningkit, was all black with white paws and pale green eyes, and her sister, Seakit, was a pale-coloured tabby with a white chest and paws and blue eyes, like their mother, but without the darker stripes.

Rainkit's father, Stoneheart, had been out hunting. Her littermates were perfectly content to play with a ball of moss - which Rainkit thought was a game for kittypets – and she had managed to slip away fairly easily. The other queen in the Nursery, Poppyheart, had been asleep, her belly gently rounded with her unborn kits. Rainkit had only explored the RiverClan Camp once, and once wasn't enough. She wanted to see the world outside.

She padded along the stream, twisting carefully among the thin trees, amazed at all the unfamiliar scents and sounds. Birdsong filled the air, and the stream sang its own quiet melody. Sunlight sliced through the canopy of leaves overhead and made a beautiful, dappled pattern on the rippling water. Entranced, Rainkit watched it flicker and dance, and suddenly she saw a disturbance on the surface. Looking closer, she saw a small, lithe, wriggling body flopping about on a flat stone.

A fish!

Rainkit crouched down and crept carefully to the edge of the bank. She swallowed nervously as she saw just how far down it was. She scanned her eyes over the water until she spotted a rock that jutted above the surface. Taking a deep breath, she crouched and then sprang down from the bank, but the soft earth at the edge crumbled away and she landed awkwardly, her paws slipping on the wet surface of the rock, and she tumbled headfirst into the river.

The water was freezing. It rushed all around her, the current tugging at every hair on her pelt, dragging her downstream. Rainkit forced her eyes open, but water stung her vision and she was blinded by a stream of bubbles.

Her feet scraped against pebbles and soft mud, and she pushed upwards. Rainkit's head broke the surface and she gasped for breath. Drawing in another lungful of air, she opened her mouth to yowl for help, but she choked on a mouthful of water and felt herself slipping under again.

Rainkit began to desperately churn her paws, like she'd been taught in the few swimming lessons she'd had. She could feel her strength rapidly dwindling, and her paws felt like they were dragging through mud, slow and heavy. The water closed over Rainkit's head and she kicked upwards, breaking the surface, but the water dragged her under again and this time she didn't fight it.

Suddenly something gripped her scruff and hauled her upwards, out of the water and onto the bank. Rainkit lay there in a shivering heap, gasping for breath, water pooling around her.

A broad head swung into her vision. Rainkit gave a squeal of terror and leaped backwards, only to trip over her own paws. She stared in horror at a gray tom with a cold, pale yellow eye - the other was scarred and tightly closed, perhaps because of an old battle wound – and an uneven mouth with jagged teeth forming a hideously cruel grin.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little kit all on her own? How sad."

Rainkit pressed herself back against a rock, fear throbbing in her chest.

"My question to you little kit, is how – "the strange cat was cut off as another voice interrupted.

"And my question to you, Jaggedfang, is what are you doing on RiverClan territory, threatening a helpless kit?"

Both the strange cat and Rainkit spun round to see Duskfur – the RiverClan deputy – standing at the edge of the trees, a furious look on his face, with Hawkfoot, Stoneheart, and Splashtail behind him.

"I – I wasn't threatening her!" stammered Jaggedfang. "I was going to bring it back to you, see, and then –"

"Oh, of course you were. But that didn't answer my question. I still want to know what you were doing on RiverClan territory," Duskfur said icily.

"I – I wasn't doing anything, I promise... I swear to StarClan, I wasn't, please Duskfur, don't kill me –"

"I'm not going to kill you!" Duskfur snapped. "Now, get back to your own territory or my tongue might just run away with me at the next Gathering. I imagine you'll have a bit of talking to do Lizardstar."

The gray tom's eyes widened and he spun around and fled through the trees. Duskfur watched him go for a moment, and then turned to Rainkit. He sat down and wrapped his tail over his paws.

"Now," he growled, "I want to know what in the name of StarClan you think you were doing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-dah! First proper chapter, done. Thoughts?


	3. Chapter Two

Rainkit could feel herself shrinking into her pelt under Duskfur's glare. 

"I – I just wanted to explore," Rainkit stammered. "I wasn't going to go far, really. And I didn't mean to fall in the river."

Duskfur narrowed his eyes. "And how did you fall in the river?" he asked.

"I was trying to catch a fish," Rainkit mumbled. She hung her head and stared at her paws.

"Catching fish is for responsible cats who know what they are doing," Duskfur muttered. Then he sighed. "I suppose it was to be expected, and it's true that you haven't been able to get out much lately, due to this... weather. Still, you shouldn't have sneaked out like that. No doubt Spiderstar will have something to say about this."

He turned round and padded off through the trees in the direction of the camp, Hawkfoot and Splashtail following him.

That left Stoneheart. Her father. Rainkit gulped. Stoneheart's eyes were narrowed, but beyond the mask of disapproval was concern. "Come on," he said shortly. He lowered his head and picked Rainkit up by the scruff.

"Hey!" she protested. Stoneheart ignored her. Halfway back to the Camp, he set her down in a small clearing, sat down and wrapped his tail over his paws, like Duskfur had done.

There was a long silence. Rainkit shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you angry at me?" she blurted out suddenly.

Her father sighed. "I could never be angry at you," he murmured, and leaned over to lick the top of her head. "Just don't do it again. Now get yourself cleaned up and we can go back to the camp."

"Will Ripplesong know?"

"By the time the patrol gets back, the whole Clan should know."

Rainkit gulped. Then Stoneheart bent his head to start licking her water-soaked pelt. Yellow river-mud clung to her paws. Rainkit shuddered as she wiped the sludge off onto a clump of wet grass.

"Who was that strange cat, and why did he smell so bad?" Rainkit asked.

"That was Jaggedfang, one of ShadowClan's warriors. The smell was ShadowClan scent. You'll get used to it after a while, since we share a border with them."

Rainkit bounced in the air. "I can tell Seakit and Lightningkit I helped scare off a ShadowClan warrior!"

Her father snorted. "Keep still. And you didn't help get rid of him; you were too busy hiding by that rock. Now come on."

Stoneheart nudged her off the ground and they padded in silence back to the RiverClan Camp. Rainkit raced across the Twoleg bridge that led to the hollow in the reeds.

"Careful!" her father called. "I don't want you falling in the stream again."

Rainkit waved her tail at him and waited by a clump of grass for her father to catch up. They padded through the back entrance to the camp, a tunnel in the grass.

Ripplesong was waiting anxiously outside the Nursery, padding back and forth while her tail lashed through the air. Hawktail, the RiverClan medicine cat, was sitting beside her, his tail wrapped neatly over his paws and looking faintly annoyed.

When Ripplesong saw Rainkit, she hurried over and carried her by her scruff back to the Nursery. Several passing cats gave them a curious glance, Spiderstar included. He frowned at Rainkit, and then bounded after his patrol. Rainkit wanted to shrink inside her pelt. Ripplesong set her daughter down outside the den.

"What were you thinking?! Duskfur had to send a patrol out to look for you, and I've been waiting here, sick with worry. You could have fallen in the stream –"

"I did."

"– Or you could have gotten lost – "

"I did."

"– Or you could have been captured by Twolegs, or have been eaten by a dog, or have been killed by a stoat, or – "

"But she's safe, and that's the main thing," interrupted Stoneheart, "although a ShadowClan warrior did happen to wander over the border and fish her out of the stream."

"WHAT?!" screeched Ripplesong. "She could have died!"

"But she didn't. She's here, she's alive, and she's all in one piece – unless, for some unknown reason, my eyes are deceiving me and our daughter is lying in little, chewed up pieces on the riverbank."

Ripplesong didn't move for a second. Then she sighed.

"I know," she meowed. She bent her head to lick Rainkit's nose. "You still shouldn't have run away, though."

"I know. I'm sorry. And anyway, I didn't run away, I was exploring. Can I go and tell Lightningkit and Seakit and Poppyheart what happened?"

Ripplesong glanced at Hawktail. The dark brown tom bent his head to sniff at Rainkit's pelt. "She should be fine," he said gruffly. "Just keep an eye on her. If she develops a cold at all, come and find me." And with that, the medicine cat stalked off.

"Can I?" Rainkit begged. Ripplesong sighed, then gave in. "Of course you can. Now off you go." She flicked her tail at her daughter and Rainkit squeezed inside the Nursery entrance and disappeared into the gloom.

Stoneheart brushed his tail along Ripplesong's flank.

"You better go after her," he murmured. "Those three are probably trying to dig their way to StarClan."

"You're probably right." Ripplesong ducked inside the Nursery. Stoneheart turned and padded to the freshkill pile, suddenly hungry and glad the morning's dilemma was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D


	4. Chapter Three

Rainkit dreamed.

She'd had the dream a few times before. She felt cold. Her pelt was wet. Water splashed against it. She could feel herself swinging in the air, and then sliding against something soft and warm. Then everything went dark.

Rainkit blinked open her eyes. She could still feel water splashing rhythmically against her pelt. Glancing upwards, she saw a steady stream of rainwater dripping from the woven reed roof of the Nursery. She grimaced and carefully pushed Seakit's tail off of her back. She and her littermates were now three moons old. The nursery was crowded with the arrival of Reedkit and Ashkit, who had been born a moon earlier and were now snuggled beside Poppyheart, and Dawnsplash, who was expecting kits.

Rainkit squeezed her way past Lightningkit and Poppyheart and out into the early morning air. A chilly leaf-fall breeze ruffled her fur. The thin sliver of silver that had been the moon was sinking behind a hill. The sky was reddening with the approaching dawn, and drops of dew sparkled like shards of ice on the reeds. Rainkit stretched, and twisted around to lap at her pelt. Then she scampered into the middle of the clearing and sat back, watching the fading stars.

When the sky was lighter, RiverClan's leader emerged from his den and stretched, like Rainkit had done. Spiderstar mumbled a sleepy "morning" to her, before yawning and sniffing around to see if there was any fresh-kill left from the day before. There wasn't. Grumbling, he padded over to the warriors den and stuck his head inside to call out the dawn patrol. The sleepy group of warriors padded out on half-awake paws and disappeared out of the camp.

Rainkit watched them longingly. Pinestreak, a senior warrior who had also come to check if there was any fresh-kill, caught her glance and purred. "You'll just have to wait until you're an apprentice," he meowed. "And in the meantime, no more adventures for you."

"I know, I know," Rainkit muttered. Sometimes she really wished the older warriors would stop going on about her "adventure".

A paw poked her playfully in the shoulder. Rainkit whirled around.

"Hey!" she snapped. Her brother took a step back, startled.

"Who put thorns in your nest?" he demanded. "I was coming to ask if you wanted to share some fish with me."

"There isn't any," Rainkit informed him. "But Spiderstar sent out the dawn patrol. They should be back soon. I think Spiderstar was getting hungry," she added.

Lightningkit stretched. "Good. I'm getting hungry too."

It appeared the rest of the Clan was also hungry. Cats were poking their heads out of the various dens spread around the clearing, calling greetings to each other. Birds twittered and sang in the trees. Feathery white clouds scudded across the orange-tinged sky. The grass rustled and the dawn patrol shouldered their way into the camp. Freshly-caught prey hung from their jaws – mostly fish, but also two field-mice and a blackbird.

Rainkit recognised Dawnwillow, a grey tabby she-cat, and Runningstorm, a brown-furred tom with darker stripes, carrying prey, and her father, Stoneheart. Runningstorm's brother, Cloudstorm, was chatting with Duskfur outside the warriors den, and some other cats were practicing battle moves on the other side of the clearing.

The hunting patrol set the fresh-kill down on the patch of bare earth in the middle of the clearing – the prey-heap – and stepped back, allowing the crowding cats to eat. Lightningkit lunged forwards and snatched two minnows from the pile, then dragged them over to Rainkit. A low murmur of conversation sprang up as RiverClan settled down to eat.

Rainkit tore a piece of meat from the small fish and began to chew. She was still getting used to the taste of fresh-kill. She swallowed her mouthful and tore off another. Seakit bounced up to them, her tabby tail waving. A field-mouse was swinging from her jaws.

She set her mouse on the ground. "Do you want some of this? I don't think I'll be able to eat it all."

"No thanks. I'm full. Ripplesong might want it, though," she added as she saw her mother emerging from the Nursery and shaking scraps of fern from her pelt. The tabby she-cat padded over to her kits.

"I'm just going to make dirt. Be good, and try not to annoy the whole Clan."

"And don't run off while your mother's away!" called a voice from the other side of the clearing. Rainkit glanced up to see Rowanflight, a newly-made warrior, padding towards them. "Only warriors and apprentices are allowed to leave camp," he said importantly. Rainkit rolled her eyes and rose to her paws. Ripplesong gave her daughter a glance, but Rainkit cut her off before her mother could speak.

"I know, I know. I won't sneak off again, okay?!" Annoyed, Rainkit stalked off and sat behind a clump of reeds, irritably swiping at the glossy green stems. "Why does the whole Clan hate me all of a sudden?" Rainkit muttered.

"They don't hate you."

Alarmed, Rainkit spun around to see Spiderstar sitting a few tail lengths away, tail wrapped neatly over his paws.

"Are you going to lecture me like everyone else?!" Rainkit snapped. She knew it was no way to talk to a Clan leader, but she didn't care.

"Your Clanmates aren't trying to lecture you. They just want to keep you safe." The leader's voice was calm.

"Funny way of showing it," Rainkit muttered. She glared at the ground, suddenly angry.

"Come on. Let's go for a walk," Spiderstar said suddenly.

Rainkit looked up, surprised. "What? But I'm not allowed out of camp. Or have you forgotten that?" she added.

Spiderstar shook his head. "It's alright, you're with me."

And with that, the RiverClan leader disappeared through the reeds.

"Hey!" Rainkit protested. She bounded after him, the reeds rattling as she forced her way through the stems.

When she emerged, she saw Spiderstar waiting for her by a patch of nettles. He waved his tail at her and leaped over a cluster of thistles up the small ridge bordering the camp. Rainkit clambered up the ridge, panting. "Slow down!" she complained. "My legs aren't as long as yours."

She crested the ridge and froze, her mouth hanging open. Before her lay the Clan territories. The small, wooded hill that ThunderClan had made their home spread along their border. To the right of that, in the distance, she could see the moors, and the dip in one of the hills surrounded by a crumbling stone wall.

The WindClan camp.

To their immediate right, a wall of dark pines rose up, spreading long shadows on the ground. Hidden by the trees, she knew, was a low stone wall and a Twoleg fence that marked the ShadowClan border.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Rainkit nodded, too amazed to say anything. She glanced at the pines again and noticed the lengthening shadows creeping towards them. Shivering, she hurried after Spiderstar. The wiry black tom was waiting patiently at the bottom of the ridge. She raced through the grass and stumbled to a halt. Spiderstar was up in an instant. "Race you!" he meowed. The RiverClan leader streaked away from Rainkit. She raced after him, purring. Grass and reeds flashed by. The wind fluffed up her pelt, filling her with exhilaration. She slowed as she neared the spot where Spiderstar was sitting.

"Not fair! How am I supposed to beat a warrior?"

"You're not."

Growling under her breath, Rainkit stalked after Spiderstar. He was leading her further across the field. She paused, noticing a faint scar on Spiderstar's left foreleg.

"How did you get that scar?"

Surprised, Spiderstar turned to face her. He glanced down at his leg. "Oh, that." He blinked at her. "Are you sure you want to know? It might give you nightmares," he added mischievously.

Rainkit puffed out her chest. "I can handle it!"

Spiderstar's tail-tip twitched. "Of course you can. How silly of me to doubt it." He settled down in the grass. Rainkit sat down, head tipped to one side curiously as she waited to hear Spiderstar's story.

There was a moment of silence as Spiderstar gathered his thoughts. Then he began.

"It was a battle with ThunderClan. Those bird-brains thought we had been stealing prey. We hadn't, although a rogue had been stealing prey from us, so we came to the conclusion he must have been stealing prey from ThunderClan as well."

"The battle was short but vicious. ThunderClan had crossed the border, but we drove them back to their own territory. On the way, one of their warriors gave me this," he said, nodding to the scar. "I couldn't walk for three days."

Rainkit's eyes widened. "Does it hurt?"

"It used to, but it doesn't anymore, thanks to Hawktail's miracles," Spiderstar replied, referring to the RiverClan medicine cat.

"Did it bleed lots?"

"Why do kits always want the gory details?" Spiderstar muttered, and then heaved himself to his paws. "Come on. We should probably be getting back."

Rainkit scampered past him and promptly tripped over her own paws.

"Oof!"

She carefully picked herself up from on the ground and shook out her fur. She broke into a cautious but determined trot. Spiderstar let out a small mroww of amusement. "Careful," he warned. "I'd prefer it if you survived your first six moons."

Rainkit purred and went faster. She swerved sideways to avoid crashing into a thick mass of reeds. Leaping past a startled thrush, she clawed her way up the ridge and raced into the camp, panting, and crashed into Stoneheart and Ripplesong.

"Whoa!" her father exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer update :)


	5. Chapter Four

Ripplesong sniffed her suspiciously. "Have you been out of camp again? You know you're not allowed to do that!"

"It's alright, Ripplesong, she was with me." Spiderstar padded up behind Rainkit. "We just went for a walk," he said with a mischievous glance at Rainkit.

Stoneheart shook his head. "Honestly, Spiderstar, you shouldn't encourage her. She's bad enough as it is," he said jokingly. Spiderstar snorted.

"I didn't encourage her. She just tagged along, that's all." He grinned at Rainkit and then he and Stoneheart padded off together. Ripplesong watched them go, purring, and then nudged Rainkit towards the Nursery.

"Look at you! You've got bits of grass and mud all over you."

Rainkit squirmed under her mother's tongue. "I'm fine, honestly. It's just some dirt."

Reluctantly, Ripplesong let her go. Rainkit bounded towards the Nursery. "Slow down!" her mother called. "Reedkit and Ashkit are sleeping."

Obediently, Rainkit slowed to a walk and poked her head inside the entrance to the Nursery.

"Lightningkit! Seakit! I'm back!" Rainkit hissed. Her littermates looked up and scampered outside. "It's not fair!" Lightningkit complained. "You've been outside of camp twice in the past moon, and I haven't even been out once!"

"Well, no one would want to take you out, would they? You're far too horrible!" Seakit teased.

"Hey!" Lightningkit exclaimed. He leaped on top of Seakit, bowling his sister over. "I'll get you for that!"

Purring, Rainkit joined the tussle. They tumbled over each other, paws flailing. Lightningkit gave her an extra-hard shove and she rolled sideways.

"Watch it!" growled Duskfur as he leapt sideways to avoid colliding with the kits. Rainkit squeaked and scrambled back to the safety of her littermates. She didn't like the fierce deputy, nearly as much as she didn't like the dark, grumpy medicine cat, Hawktail.

Shrieking with excitement, the kits scampered back to the Nursery, where Ripplesong was waiting outside.

"Come on," she said briskly. "It's getting too cold for you to keep playing."

"But Ripplesong!" Rainkit protested. "Were not cold and we've only just started playing..." she trailed off as something small and white landed on her nose and melted into a tiny puddle of water. Squeaking with surprise, Rainkit leapt backwards. "What's that?!" Rainkit exclaimed.

Purring, Ripplesong watched her kits stare wide-eyed at the flakes of snow as they floated down from the grey sky. "That's snow, which means it's definitely time for us to go inside." She gently nudged her kits towards the Nursery.

"Can't we stay out and play? It's so pretty!" squeaked Seakit, attempting to bat at the snowflakes as Ripplesong herded her into the shelter of the reeds. Ripplesong's whiskers twitched with amusement.

"Later, you can. There'll be much more of it by then."

Reluctantly the kits slunk back inside their den and snuggled into their nest, yawning with the sudden onset of tiredness brought by the excitement of the morning. Ripplesong curled around them, noticing they were almost too big to all fit in their nest. She rested her head on Lightningkit's flank and closed her eyes, content in the quiet moment of peace.

The snow kept falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, leafbare is here... What will the kits think of snow? Kind of a short update, oh well.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I hope you enjoyed that mysterious entrance... Anyway, time for a bit of background. This is the first book in a series I have planned, inspired by Erin Hunter's YA series Warriors. It's also the first thing I've ever published...? So bear with me, 'cause I'm kinda new around here. I've written lots before, but never been brave enough to let people read what I've written, so I figured publishing would be a good motivator for me as I tend to, well, not finish things :) On that note, just a warning, I can no more guarantee this will get finished any more than I can guarantee me becoming the Queen of England... But, we live in hope! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought. I appreciate all feedback and criticism, as long as it isn't overly negative. I can also be found on Wattpad (username: RainScience1991)


End file.
